


Zephyr

by knowlee_raven



Series: Claudleth A-Z [14]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Byleth has to have some trauma from falling during the battle of Garreg Mach, F/M, So some slight potential trigger warning for that too, So this plays with that, as she does panic a little bit, essentially a trust fall, not that bad but I put the tag in there to be on the safe side, some depictions of violent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:02:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26551072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knowlee_raven/pseuds/knowlee_raven
Summary: In an effort to give them time to escape, Byleth uses herself as bait to get the enemy to leave her deer alone. She eventually finds herself cornered at the edge of a cliff and is scared to fall off of it especially since at what happened last time.Luckily for her Claude is there to help catch her if she does. All she has to do is trust him.~~Claudeleth Week Day 5: Trust
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Series: Claudleth A-Z [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1760710
Comments: 4
Kudos: 74
Collections: Claudeleth Week 2020





	Zephyr

* * *

A Fire Emblem Three Houses Fanfiction

Zephyr

By: Knowlee Raven

* * *

If she hadn't promised Sothis to not use her power for personal gain, Byleth would've certainly went back and punched herself in the face for the stupid decision she made. Granted, at the time, it seemed like a smart move, but now that she was about to get cornered by a band of enemy soldiers, she was beginning to regret her decision.

Leaping over a fallen tree stump that lay in her path, she continued to run through the forest with no destination in mind. That of which didn't bother her, especially considering that it was her plan this whole time.

That plan being that she needed to give her Deer enough time to get away and treat their wounds from the random ambush these exact soldiers had inflicted upon them. And since she had the best chance out of all of them to survive their attack, she decided to volunteer, much to their disagreement, Claude's most of all, to lure them away.

Although she knew that she didn't have to do that for them, she felt, even though for them five years had passed, that she still had a duty to protect them and keep them from getting hurt while out on the battlefield.

Which is what led her to this moment.

Byleth pushed herself a bit further through the woods, slowing putting some distance between her and her pursuers. Although she knew she couldn't outrun them forever, but if she could gain some space and could utilize the terrain to her advantage to slowly pick them off, she would have a better chance of making it out of this with only a few scrapes on her person.

But she knew she had to be careful, especially considering that she only one use of her divine pulse left and she had to make it count.

An arrow flew by her face, nearly taking off her ear in the process. That near miss only made her to push forward a little bit faster to try and outrun them while simultaneously searching for an opening to take.

Soon, she had it.

In the distance, she could see a wide clearing just past a line of trees and knew she could fight off some of them there. But first, she needed to get rid of the archer.

Sparing a quick glance behind her, Byleth spotted the aforementioned soldier and watched as they attempted to nock an arrow into their bow while still giving chase. She had only one chance to get this right.

Slowing down just a bit, Byleth allowed the archer to get closer and once she felt she was at a safe enough distance, she immediately stopped and turned, running towards him. The sudden motion threw the man off guard, causing him to stumble and trip over the leg she swept out towards his feet, making him to fall towards the ground. But before he could complete the motion, she spun quickly to get back into position, swinging her sword upward at the same time, taking the man out before he hit the grass.

With him gone, she could now focus on the others. Of whom were now giving their full attention on her since she had taken out their comrade.

Bolting once more, she ran towards the clearing and after crossing the threshold, began engaging in a battle with the nearest swordsman. As their swords kept colliding with one another it became apparent that they were both near the same skill level and either side would have to try their best to keep on their toes.

Eventually though, something would have to give.

And luckily, when it did, it wasn't her that broke. 

She saw the split second opening before the man had realized what he had done and took it.

And, just like the archer before, he fell.

Byleth turned her attention to the others and used the momentum leftover from the previous attack to strike them down as well.

However she knew she still had a long way to go before this was done. And until then, she wouldn't let up.

It was during her felling another soldier that she realized she had made a terrible mistake.

Pain erupted in her side which forced her to her knees. Upon glancing down she saw the source of the pain and saw an arrow impaled into her.

Apparently she had missed an archer during her initial rundown of who was following her.

In her peripheral vision, she could see the nearby enemy swordsman grow closer, sword swinging down to take her out. Byleth knew she had to move.

Using what little strength she had to force herself through the pain, she rolled out of the way of the man's attack and made herself get back. Arrow or no arrow, she had to keep moving.

But even with that motivation in mind, it still wasn't enough.

Just as she managed to take out the swordsman that nearly took her out earlier, another arrow was fired from the enemy archer's bow and it came at such an angle that she didn't see it coming.

When the arrow entered into her body at her back, it nearly took her breath away. She needed to take him out and fast.

Byleth spun around rather sloppily as the arrows made her fumble a bit in her stance. Pushing herself forward, she started running at the archer, clumsily dodging a few arrows her shot at her to deter her away, and swung her sword down upon him.

That took care of all of the archers now.

But she still had work to do.

Unfortunately just as she started to return her focus onto the remaining soldiers, the familiar sting of a blade tore into her back causing her to cry out in pain and collapse.

She certainly didn't see that coming.

Rolling over to see who it was that hit her, her stomach dropped when the sword came into her view and was coming down at her.

Byleth knew that would be her death stroke. She couldn't let that happen.

The blade grew ever closer, however, before it made contact, she reached out towards the fabric of time, feeling it shatter all around her, making everything freeze.

After fighting through the pain that was throbbing throughout her body, mentally Byleth retraced her steps to determine where it was exactly she needed to return to. 

Without having to think too hard, Byleth knew it was the archer that needed to be stopped first before she set about taking out the others. 

Grasping time within her fingers again, it began to rewind itself, slowly returning back to the instant she took out the first swordsman. Her body floated through the process until eventually she was once more standing next to the dead soldier.

Although a part of her was regretting being forced to use her power since she knew it was her last use for it until she got plenty of rest, Byleth knew she had no choice. But the stakes were certainly higher than they were before. No more mistakes could be afforded after this.

She restarted time.

With things starting to go back into play, Byleth watched as the first swordsman fell and turned quickly to rush past the other soldiers to reach where the archer was located. She got nicked a few times during her sprint, but luckily managed to make it to his location without incurring any serious injuries like what happened in the previous timeline. Upon making it there, she took him out with no hesitation and returned her attention back onto the oncoming enemies.

Byleth continued to methodically take them down one by one, acting almost reminiscent of the Ashen Demon moniker she once bore as her more common title. But even with that renown under her belt, even she had her limits.

Dodging another swipe of a blade and stab of a lance, Byleth was forced towards the edge of the clearing. The edge of which led towards a steep cliff that would surely end her if she fell off of it.

Either that or it would cause her to reenter another long sleep causing her to leave her new found family once more. That was something she didn't want to happen.

Plus the idea of just falling in general was enough to make her chest to constrict in fear. While heights wasn't something she was afraid of, the idea of experiencing another moment of helplessness at falling and being unable to stop it was something she was.

The enemy soldiers surrounded her, forced what little room she had left to get smaller. Byleth had to think of something fast.

Now that she no longer had the pulse to help her out, her mind immediately switched to tactician mode and began running through strategies to potentially use to get out of the mess she had put herself in. Just as she was beginning to run out of options, her 'heart' jumped as a familiar cry rang out.

Chancing a glance to her left, she saw a white wyvern with a rider clothed in browns and yellows getting closer. Relief swept through her.

Claude.

He was coming.

A small part of her wanted to chastise him for coming after her when she clearly told him not to. But she knew him long and well enough that as much as he trusted her and knew she could handle herself, he would still find a way to disobey her orders if he felt it was needed. And at this point, although it pained her to admit it, it was one of those situations.

A lancer that made up the crowd of enemy soldiers moved to attack during her moment of distraction, but Byleth managed to catch it before it could connect. Instead, her sword returned the favor and lashed out, making him perish before her. Her feet moved into a familiar defensive stance when another soldier stepped up to do a follow up attack.

Claude needed to get here faster.

The soldiers redoubled their efforts when they noticed an ally of hers was getting closer. Although they were grunts on the lower ranks, they knew enough to know that if they took her out, it would be a big blow to the Alliance.

And although their skill levels were no where near hers, if they kept up their numbers and attacked her in quick succession like they had done before, Byleth knew it would only be a matter of time before they succeeded.

After dodging another incoming attack and hearing Claude's wyvern cry out again, a sinking realization hit her: he wasn't going to get here fast enough.

Although she couldn't look in his direction since her attention was focused elsewhere, she could tell by just how far his wyvern's cries where that he was still a good bit a way. Plus with how the remaining enemies were effectively not letting her break through, she knew that as it stood, she wasn't getting out of here without doing something drastic.

And the only drastic thing popping up in her mind to do was to jump.

Byleth felt nauseous at the thought.

Her fear at being at the mercy of the wind and just free falling without anything to hold onto was enough to make her stomach churn again. She breathed out slowly as she dodged another attack.

Still...

She trusted Claude more than she feared falling.

As close as they were and how in sync their battle styles had become, she knew immediately that he would know what she was doing once she did it. Sure, he'd probably be pissed off at her reckless decision but in the end, he knew that she had no choice.

Plus he couldn't talk much either since he had made his fair share of them in the past.

So with a deep breath to help steel her nerves, Byleth sheathed her sword and, before she could change her mind, turned and ran off the edge.

Her anxiety hit her full force once the wind harshly hit her face, making her coat and hair to fly in every direction. Her eyes widened upon seeing the ground getting closer and her mind flashed back to that moment five years prior.

Her lungs couldn't breath in any air and with the way the air was moving, it certainly wasn't helping her much to remedy that. Byleth flailed about, turning her body around to see the cliff getting farther away.

Her anxiety hit harder. Was this it then?

Clenching her eyes tightly closed, she forced that thought out of her mind. A few seconds passed until Byleth felt a warm pair of arms grab a hold of her waist, slamming her into a warm chest and drawing her close. She knew without having to look that Claude must've finally reached her.

Her arms quickly went around his own waist before she pushed her face into his chest, eager to hear his familiar fast heartbeat to help calm her down. The scent of Almyran Pine Needles filled her nose, helping her relax even further.

Yes, she was safe now.

His heart was still racing when he spoke. Apparently she had scared him. Immediately she felt guilty. “Don't do that again!”

At first, Byleth was confused. Was he talking about taking the soldiers on her own or making the crazy decision to jump? A few seconds passed before she realized it was the former. “It helped get everyone away from them, didn't it?” She tried to hide the tremble in her voice that showed how the fall had terrified her.

He didn't speak for a few more moments, which told her that indeed her crazy decision had helped get them to safety. Breathing out slowly, she felt glad to know that her deer were safe and she returned to focusing on his heartbeat to calm down the last of her frayed nerves.

Eventually he spoke again, a softness in his tone. “You didn't have to jump, you know. I know how you hate falling. I would've made it there in time.”

And although he said that, they both knew that he wouldn't have.

Still, Byleth felt touched that he remembered her fear and knew that he was pushing his wyvern as fast as she could go to try and prevent her from having to face it. She grimaced. He didn't deserve to have someone like her in his life. After all that she had put him through the past five years, he deserved better.

She needed to let him know how much she appreciated him and wasn't going to abandon him again. And for that, she needed the right words. 

“It's alright, Claude. I trust you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the long wait on this one!
> 
> I meant to do it back when Claudeleth week was actually going on, but unfortunately my anxiety kicked in and I had to put it on hold. But now that I'm in a better mindset, I decided to work on it and get it out there. :)
> 
> Still got my other two days to go from what I had left of the week, and then after that, I can focus more fully on the three Claudeleth multi-chapter fics I have. (I don't count Like It Was Fate in this since the last chapter is day 6 of the Claudeleth Week thing and that's what I plan on doing next unless my muse decides to go elsewhere...)
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this little story and I'll see you in the next thing I post!
> 
> ~Until then!


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